Process of and apparatus for the production of ions.



L. 1. BLAKE. PROCESS OF AND APPARATUS PCB, THE PRODUCTION OF'IONS.

Patented Oct. 26,1909.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 16, 1908.

h sem m LUCIEN I. BLAKE, OF DENVER, COLORADO.

PROCESS OF AND APPARATUS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF IONS.

speciflcatlon of Letters Patent.

. Patented oet. 26, 1909.

Application filed May 16, 1908. Serial No. 438,328.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I,LUC1EI\' I. BLAKE, a

' citizen of the United States, residing at Den- -'ver, in the count yof Denver and State .of Colorado, have discovered a new and useful grocess of and Apparatus for the Product1011 .0f Ions, of which the following is a specification, reference 'bein had i to the drawlngs accompanying and forming a part of the same. i 1

It has been ascertained by the researches of physicists that in flames, such as produced byan ignited gas jet or by the electric arc,-

lar' e quantities of gaseous particles exist WhlCh carry minute charges of electricity, some positive, others negative, the development of which appears to be the result of a dissociation by high temperature of the gaseous substances present. Experimental investlgations show that of these products of dissociation the positive particles have equal and definite individual charges, and that their mass and material are practically those of the individual atoms of the gaseous components. The negative products, however, although possessing individual charges equal in quantity to those of the positive, have masses of approximately 1/1700 only of the atom of hydrogen, which is the smallest and .lightest atom known. ,These negative particles, moreover, are all alike in material, bein in this regard, entirely independent of t e gas from which they are derived. They are, therefore, unlike anything preof atom from which they are derived by dissociation. They are P electricity. No analogous atom has yet been ionin the flame or are being, therefore, the

remnant or remainder of the gaseous chemways equal to that 'the electric are, or of ical atom after the ne ative ion has been dissoclated from 1t.-- W

le-itscharge is alof the negative ion, its

own mass is at least 1-700 times greater, and .is proportional-to the mass of the atom of the dissociated gas.

and are called negtherefore elemental, and have been appropriately designated spaced along its atoms of negative jet-s become electrified if placed in anelec- ,trical field, or if the pipe be insulated and atom of positive electricity 7 conn having a mass siilarly less than any known. discovered, the positive may then be place point by a-current of air or gas the accompanying drawings,

such as glowi'ng coals, positive atoniions and negatlve ions from the gases present, all havingequal charges, but unequal masses.- In the following specification the term ion is used as the common term for either of these first products of dissociation in "a flame. Because of these charges, these ions are capable of attaching themselves 'to neutral atoms or molecules, and are then called molions. Charged aggregates may thus occur, both positive and negative, with 'ons as their nuclei, and' this fact I have taken advantage of in various arts, with such novel and useful results as to render the production of ions under practical commercial conditions a matter of the greatest value and importance. w

The subject of my present application is a discovery which I have made of a simple,

economical and eflicient process for the prothus produces both duction or development of ions in any desired quantities, and anapparatus for carrying out such rocess a able for practical and useful pur ses,

My discovery, briefly stated, 15', that if a flame, an are, or an mcandescing solidbe electrified or electrically charged, ions are produced in it in enormously'increased quantities and are delivered from it into the surrounding air.

lication of this discovery, to provide in a ame or its equivalent, electrified from an external source, a powerful generator of ions, producing them in far greater available q-uantities than by any other previously known process or device. A typical and very simple means for carrying out my invention'consists of a metal gas-pipe, having" a series of small gas ets, length. The burning gas ted with some source of electro-motive force, as for example, to one pole of a static generator, or one terminal ofa suitable high-. tension transformer second d at the point ions are ,to be utilized, or point, and the ions conveyed to the desired in a suitable where the conduit.

For a more detailed explanation of the nature of my process and of the-means for carrying the same into effect, I refer now to hich, while d rendering it avail- I have been able, by the apat some remote ary. This pipe acted u though it forms ions developed in largely diagrammatic, will be readily understood, as the devices represented are all of a very simple and well known character.

F igure 1 is a perspective view of the most simp e form of ionizer. Fig. 2 isa similar view of an ionizer with provision for conducting the ions to a more or less remote polnt.

In Fig. 1, A designates a section of an ordinary metal gas pipe, closed at one end and containing a series of ets or openings B, and a controlling valve C. The pipe is connected with, but at D insulated from a main or pipe from any convenient source of gas supply, such as the street mains, and is connected to a source of electro-motive force, as by attachment to one terminal of the high tensionsecondary E of a transformer, or one pole of a static generator. The gas jets, when i ted, are by this means electrified or staticafi y charged, and} produce and give off in great quantlties gaseous ions which may be'utilized for various useful purposes. As one instance of such uses I may cite, al-

no part 01 the subject mat of this application, a procdiscovered for the concenter of the claims ess which I have tration of ores.

If a quantity of metalliferous ore be pulverized and allowed to fall in a fine stream I upon a revolving metal drum or cylinder, the

conducting as well as the no particles will fall from the in practically the same path. But, if the gas pipe with its ignited and electrified jets, illustrated in Fig. 1, beplaced in proximity to the descending stream of pulverized ore, the and given off from the flames will attach themselves to the particles of the ore and individually electlv'vig such particles forming molions. Some be positive and some negative. If now, the conducting surface of the drum upon which the stream of finely divided material is delivered, be-electrically connected to earth, the charged particles of relatively good conductivity Wlll become instantly neutral, while the particles of lower conductivity will adhere to. the surface and may be separated therefrom by scrapers or allowed to detach themselves when they have parted with their charge. In this way the conducting articles will fallfrom the drum in a di erent path from the less conducting particles.

It is not necessary that the substance to be pon by the ions should be brought mto actlon or even approximate contact wlth the flame itself, as I have discovered that it is possible to convey the ions to a distance om the flame, and for utilizing this discovcry I have devised a form of ionizer, from which the ions may be conveyed and deliv- -conducting ered to remote devices.

and electrified, a current of airor ratus is'illustrated in Fig. 2, in which E re resents a closed chamber of insulating material, composed, for example, of earthenware. Within this chamber the gas pipe A, insulated, as in the previous case from the service pipe at D, is placed and connected as'"betore with a suitable source force E. From the top of the'cbamber F, leads an insulating pipe or conduit G, which may be a wooden pipe or an ordinary rubber hose. If,- when the gas jets are ignitgd gas e established by natural or artificial draft throu h the chamber F, .to and through the ipe the ions developed by the flames may e 'conveyed by such current of air to such .p o1nts comparatively remote, as may be desired.

If the source of the ions be an electric are, it may be char ed or electrified by producing the arc itsel? in an electrified field, where by the ions of, opposite sign to the field Wlll be delivered into the air outside, or they may be forced out b a magnet pole placed near the arc. Sim' arly, a receptacle containing glowing coals,'or other incandescing ody, may be electrified.

While both positive and negative ions are produced in a flame, or by an incandesclng solid, they may be separated from each other, when so desired, by means of electro-magnets which will deflect them in two directions so that they may be collected and used separately. Or, if the flame, notably when electrified, is produced between two plates oppositely charged, or in general is produced 1n an electrified field, a similar separation of the two kinds of mm will result.

I have discovered other important and useful methods of utilizing ions, and devlsed other .forms of apparatus for producln them, but these will be made the subject 0 and more fully described in other appllcations for Letters Patent. It is my purpose in the present case to illustrate thefunda mental method or process of generatmg and renderin available ions on a scale sultable for usefu and practical application by elec trically chargin or electrifying the flame or other source by which the ions are produced, and the best form of apparatus known to me at this time for carrying out such process.

Having now described my invention, what I claim 1s 1. The process of produc ng and dell ering into the air gaseous ions, here1n described, which consists in electrically charging by an external source of electro-motlve force, the generating or gaseous dissociating flame or source of heat in which they are developed.

2. An ionizer consisting of an incandescingbody charged or electrifiedby an external source of electro-motive force.

3. An ionizer consisting of a conducting insulating gas supply pipe, insulated from ground, and charged or electrified by an external source of electro-motive force, and provided with a series of jets or burners.

4. An ionizer consisting of a series of jets or burners connected with a source of gas supply, but insulated from ground, and charged of electro-motive force. 1

5. An ionizer consisting of an insulated andelectrified source of heat in combination with an insulating casin provided with an 1 therefrom t t ing the ions.

, 6. The combination with an insulating ine point desired, the air carryor electrified by an external sourceie or con u t for conveying closing hamber, and an air or as conveying con uit leading therefrom, 0 an ionizer contained in said chamber consisting of an. insulated electrically charged ignited gas jet or flame.

7. The process herein described, consisting in electrically charging by an external source of electro-motive orce a gaseous dissoc ating flame or source of heat, and separating the positive and'negative ions produced an given ofi thereby by means of magnets or their equivalents. 4 LUCIEN I. BLAKE.-

' Witnesses:

G. M. Jmrkms, MINNIE Nm son. 

